Ná Gabh ar Scoil! at Bookville Festival, Kilkenny

Myra and I were very well received at the Loughboy Library in Kilkenny for a bilingual presentation of our Award-winning book, Ná Gabh ar Scoil!.

Myra spoke about being a writer and how she came up with the concept of Ná Gabh ar Scoil! and I showed the class all the sketches I created and how my thinking developed while making the book. From receiving the story, developing characters, creating their universe to then developing the visual story, they saw that it takes a lot of drawing.

Myra also read our book and because the key element in the story is the reversed roles of mom and son, we discussed the device so children could develop their own “reversed” stories.

The students were eager to take part in creating their own “upside down” stories, as they gave their ideas I drew them on the flipchart, so we collectively created some very interesting things, including a loving Wolf who loved little pigs and an evil tooth fairy who made your teeth rotten…

It was a fun-filled morning for everyone and I hope we have inspired them to pursue the creation of books as they grow up!

Big thanks to Caitriona Keneally from the Loughboy Library and to event manager Ruth Mulhern for impeccably organizing the Bookville Festival in an incredibly smooth manner!